André-Luc Allanic, Director of the R&D department of Prodways, voted 2016 Engineer of the Year

During the 2016 Engineers of the Future Awards Ceremony, held at the Pavillon Champs-Elysées in Paris on Tuesday, December 6, André-Luc Allanic, co-founder and Director of the R&D department of Prodways (a Groupe Gorgé subsidiary), was awarded the Engineer of the Year prize by the editorial staff of Usine Nouvelle magazine. This award marks a significant year with many developments at Prodways, with the sale of its 70th ProMaker 3D printer, and the first sale of its selective laser sintering ProMaker P1000.

• Recognizing an innovator's achievements

This award acknowledges André-Luc Allanic's contribution to the technological advances of additive manufacturing. André-Luc Allanic is one of the global experts and pioneers in 3D printing. He has worked on various innovative technologies over the last 25 years (in particular stereolithography and metal and polymer powder sintering). In the early 90s, he developed some of the first European 3D printers for the CNRS. Joining the corporate world in 1993 at "Laser 3D", André-Luc Allanic designed stereolithography machines that were already the fastest on the market at that time.

In 1997, André-Luc Allanic created his own company, "Optoform", and developed revolutionary 3D printing systems. In 2001, the company was purchased by the global leader in 3D printing, "3DSystems" (US), which already saw Mr. Allanic's innovations as foreshadowing "the future of the industry".
In 2007, André-Luc Allanic created his own company in France, in order to implement his new technology: the patented MOVINGLight® technology, which offers unparalleled resolution combined with very high productivity. His meeting with Raphaël Gorgé in 2013 marked the entry of Groupe Gorgé in 3D printing.

• The completion of new stages in its development

Prodways takes this opportunity to announce the sale, in December, of its 70th 3D printer for an application of manufacturing of injection mold in 3D printing (spanning all technologies). This end of year is also marked by the first success of its most recent innovation, the ProMaker P1000, its professional selective laser sintering printer at less than €100,000. Its first sale was completed directly at the FormNext trade show held end-November alongside all the major global players in additive manufacturing.
By 2017, this machine could be the best selling machine of the range.